Frozen Fruit Pops

I work with a bunch of rather creative people who can come up with interesting ideas and sales pitches, but are stifled by bosses who do not understand the local shoppers' mindsets. Today's idea was to make frozen fruit pops with just a blend of persimmons, one kiwi, a little apple juice and some water. I am not sure if it was to be sold, or if it was for the staff, but the lady boss thought it was a good idea for a new product to be sold. I would ask he how she intended to sell something frozen when she does not have a display freezer though. 

Well the blended mixture was sweet enough for me and I wonder if the sweetness will shine through the coldness. Guess I will find out tomorrow if it actually tastes good. 

Big Box, Big Stuff

Went to Big Box this afternoon and while looking for a bottle of oyster sauce, I found this big plastic  bottle of cincalok. Cincalok usually comes in small glass bottles that usually blast out half its contents when you open them due to the shrimp still fermenting in it. The good thing about this bottle is that you will be able to tell if there will be any explosion as it will bloat up. Fingers crossed they do not smell as bad as the ones in the glass bottles as well. 

Finally The Right Cheese Ramen

Saw this on the shelf at Sheng Siong just now and I was wondering if I might have been a new design for the cheese noodles I tried before. Since the other noodles were on the shelf, had a big difference in price, and this one had the Paldo brand with the cheese holding a sign (as described by The Ramen Rater). Finally I get to try the cheese noodles that i first saw on the 2014 top ten list.

Final Post Of The Year

Nearing the end of 2014 and the family gets together as my cousin, Criszean, and his family return just before midnight. We started the night off with a pizza party and soon more food was being added as my aunt brought Nasi Lemak from her condominium's residents party. Criszean then brought over his log cake from Christmas and we dug out some ice cream from the last pizza party we had. 

So it is about the end of 2014 as we leave it enjoying some good food with family. 

Om Nom Nom...

Not A Bad Concept

Had a long day at work today and I was glad to have Angie join me for both my lunch and dinner breaks. We were not sure what to have for dinner, but I definitely wanted a place I could just rest my feet. So after skipping a few outlets in the Gourmet Paradise, we ended up trying the food at Griddy. 

As their name suggests, there are waffles to be had here and what we did was order a main course and top it up with a waffle and drink. I got the Griddy Combo and it came with a rather flat piece of chicken, a nice burger patty, fried egg, and fake bacon, along with a salad, waffle fries and a small ramekin of mushroom sauce. It was quite filling and I only ate one of the waffle fries as I actually wanted to just have my waffle with all that meat. The waffle actually came later and had a really tiny portion of butter on it, but it was a nice simple dessert. 

I would not mind having this again, but I think I might try one of their waffle sandwiches. 

Om Nom Nom...

Christmas Freebies

After work, mom and I went to check out the food at the Pasar Malam that started near my place on Monday. Well it was actually I who checked out the food while mom waited for me in the car. Anyway, after getting a few tea eggs, I wanted to get some Vadai for mom but they were all really small and I would have an earful if I bought them. I decided to get two bags of min vadai instead. The stall keeper must be really eager to close his stall as he asked if I was alright with getting a little more vadai for a dollar more. After agreeing to that deal and looking to get a stick of chicken liver and hearts for Barkley, he started donating the rest of his stall to me. I ended up getting a pack of chickpeas, four of the vadai I did not want to buy, a small bag of Keropok Lekor, a dhal vadai and two veggie vadai. Must be the Christmas spirit!

Om Nom Nom...

The Annual Christmas Eve Spread

Time for our annual Christmas dinner with the family and mom managed to dig out proper bowls and plates to present all the food. She also dug out the free 3-tier dessert caddy we got while shopping at Plaza Singapura last year, perfect for the red velvet brownies. There were three bowls we got during a sale at Ikea that came in handy for the coleslaw, potato salad and Risoni salad. Two souvenir plates from a school event I did in 1999 that held the cured salmon and banana cakes. A baking dish held the fried chicken chunks and a scalloped Chinese plate which held the sliced lamb. While the Nutella drops were in their own plastic container. It all came together as everyone came in and finally I can dig in!

Om Nom Nom...

Ovens Working Overtime

It is the third day of Christmas preparations and the Christmas tree has not been put up but the two ovens are up and running. Mom and I are preparing the coleslaw and potato salad dressings, marinating meats and still baking desserts. The oven has baked red velvet brownies, banana cakes and mini apple pies already, and still have the big apple pies to go. Tomorrow would be another round of roasting. Cannot wait to dig in.

Om Nom Nom... 

Created My Own Recipe

It is the second day of Christmas preparations and I thought I would make something for mom and I to nibble on while we baked. With the ideas from all the almond and coconut flour recipes I have been using, I thought I might do something similar and use up as much of my Nutella stock as I can. I intended to make cookies, but they turned out a little more like cakes and would definitely do well as cupcakes. Too bad I did not have any cupcake cups, but it does not matter what shape it is, as long as it is easy to eat. 

Om Nom Nom...

Christmas Dinner Preparation Starts Now

Mom got a good deal on a whole salmon, and as planned, she got one so we could cure it in time for this year's Christmas dinner party. The salmon has to be cured for at least two days and that means the process has to be started tonight. With suggestions from the family, I made some adjustments to the curing mix and added a little more lemon juice to the curing mix. It was a little wet but the curing mix tasted alright and I think it should turn out as good as our first try. 

Fingers crossed. 

Contractors And Hampers

Got home from work tonight and mom told me we got a hamper delivered to us this afternoon. About twenty years ago, we used to have hampers delivered to us during Christmas and Lunar New Year from some of the contractors my dad use to work with during his time in the hotel industry. 

This time, I could say that the hamper was for my dad being the contractor while we were staying at my sister's place. While over there, my dad had been doing quite a bit of electrical work, cleaned out the cars, created a veggie garden in a patch that was being wasted with nothing in it. 

Thanks for the goodies!

Om Nom Nom...

Fatty Tuna Nigiri

It was the last day of the Japan fair and I managed to get the braised squid along with a few other items that I wanted. I decided to also get a Donburi from the sushi counter as I wanted to have the squid with the lightly flavoured rice. While looking around the counter, I spotted a pinkish row of Nigiri sushi and realised that they were filled with the chopped fatty tuna I was eyeing. Finally I get to have a pack of it all ready to eat and all they needed was a little splash of soy sauce.

Om Nom Nom....

A Day With Family And Food

Met uncle Shane and my cousin Dwayne this afternoon at Ikea and had a quick lunch. We then dropped Dwayne off at his home before heading to Mandai Columbarium to look for where my grandaunt's ashes had been interred. The information given to us was lacking but we were lucky enough to find it quite fast as I noticed that there were numbers on the rows of resting places. We turned the corner and found 120, and Shane got out to check if it was right. Seems like there were a few people who have visited her resting place as the tiny holder for flowers was fully stuffed with a bunch of plastic flowers and had dried ones sticking out at strange angles.

After a few minutes paying our respects, we head back to the hotel to pick up Karmei and the boys for the trip to Mustafa. We managed to get into Mustafa just after 5pm and decided to have some food before shopping. Crossed over to C.M.K. 2001 Restaurant for some local food and drinks. We got a some Prata, Thosai, Murtabak and Roti John, together with a Milo Dinosaur and Bandung. I just realise the chilli for the thosai here is AWESOMELY spicy. Once filled up, we were back into Mustafa where Karmei got a few bargain buys.

Big Bowl Lunch

It is lunch with mom today and we wanted to use up as much of the leftovers from the pizza party as possible. We actually bought a pack of noodles for my dad and uncle as the both of them do not like pizza. Since then, we only used a little bit of the noodles and had about two-thirds of the pack left. Mom told me to cook the rest of the pack, while she heated up some of her pork nuggets from the party night as well. The only thing fresh was the blanched garland chrysanthemum and sliced chilli padi. We had enough to feed four, but after mom and I had our share, dad basically finished the rest when he got back from work a little later.  

 Om Nom Nom...

 

Pizza Party

We got the family together so that everyone can finally meet Shane's family. Uncle Dennis decided to make his pizza and that rolled off the idea of a potluck party but the pizzas were still the main attraction. We managed to put together a choice of thirteen ingredients and let everyone decide what they wanted to have on the pizza. 

There were the usually pepperoni pizza, ham and mushroom, vegetable pizzas being made. I managed to make a version of the bacon cheeseburger pizza I had in Australia, but with a slight twist thanks to the nacho cheese contribution from Adi. Shane actually liked the pizza, probably because it did not have one bit of vegetable, and it was full of meat. There was also a pizza made with the cured trout, onion and peppers that seems to be enjoyed by everyone as well. 

Perhaps it has been too long since our last pizza party. 

Om Nom Nom...

Bloody Expensive Melon

Today I got to try one of the most expensive melons in the world. One of the Japanese melons were getting a little too ripe for sale and Kei-san took it in and cut it open. A bit of it had turned too mushy but there was still enough for Angie, Kei and myself. It was really sweet, and slightly creamy. I would say this would be the perfect melon to make into an ice cream or gelato if you want to stretch your dollar. However, I did not have time for that or to bother with trying to freeze it, and since it was nicely chilled, it was the perfect sweet break from work. 

Om Nom Nom...

Japan Fair

There is a Japan food fair at Isetan Westgate and since my aunt had a winning lottery number, she bought us a few things from the fair. There is a stall selling some fried and braised seafood and we got a pack of fried prawns and mini crabs to snack on. I saw a braised squid stuffed with cod roe which I was thinking of getting but I might get some another day. 

We then went round after dinner and saw mini fish Taiyaki that came wither plain or stuffed with one of nine different flavours. We decided to get a pack of sixteen fish for $9. The stall also sells Mochi in soy bean powder and was thinking of getting it when the boss gave me and my aunt a sample. It was easy to just grab a pack after that sample as the mochi was different from the sticky chewy Japanese mochi I was expecting. I knew mom would like it as she loves her Muah Chee, but this was a cross between that and our Agar jellies and the Konnyaku jellies. It was light, just slightly chewy, and had the tiniest tinge of sweetness to it. Rather refreshing when the mochi cubes were cold. 

I will definitely come back for more. 

Om Nom Nom...

Massive Low Carb Burger

Went to Vivo City this afternoon with Shane and family and ended up going to Carl's Jr for my lunch, while the rest had their dinner. I have not been here for more than a year and the menu has had some nice additions. One of which was their Low Carb Thickburger, which was great for someone, like me, who should not be eating so much carbohydrates. Also, I do not really like bread and it would be at the bottom of my carbohydrate choices. 

Anyway, it was a really filling burger and I did not order any fries with it. The downside was that it was quite messy to eat as the lettuce just was not big enough and a little too firm to wrap around the burger and other ingredients. I would definitely order this again when there is a Carl's Jr where ever I may be.

Om Nom Nom... 

Crunchy Takoyaki

Wanted to snack on something and I could only find the takoyaki snack Angie got for me from her most recent trip to Japan. It seemed a little like the Kracie mini food kits but most of it all prepared, and you were only left to dress the octopus flavoured ball-shaped crackers. It already comes in its own container and I just drizzled the sauce and sprinkled the dried green stuff that tasted more like parsley than seaweed. The kit also contained two toothpicks so all I had to do was share. 

They tasted quite nice, and I would say rather close to the real thing. Only thing I would do different is to add some mayonnaise on it and it should taste like a really crunchy takoyaki. 

Om Nom Nom...

Creature Spotting

Went oyster hunting with the family today. It has been a few months since our last outing and we had stopped when it was time for the oysters to go forth and multiply. At the same time, dad and I had travelled to Australia, and after we got back, I saw a news article about some contaminants in the water. So after seven-month hiatus, we went out to see what we could pick. 

Today we managed to get quite a number of huge oysters which we decided to open right away. We also found some prawns trapped in the shallow pools of water and decided to feed them with the muscle stuck on oyster shells. Dad also found some agar seaweed and showed the rest of the family which ones to pick. The most interesting find was the horseshoe crab which I was excited about, until I learnt it was dead. Hopefully I'll get to see some live ones one day. 

Time to head back to make some fried oyster omelette.